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Wine Trends for 2013

As the month of 'detox' comes to an end we've asked award winning sommelier Eric Zwiebel from Summer Lodge to share his thoughts on what this years wine trends will be: Whilst not a wine, i think we will start to see Sake will be much more widely enjoyed. Whereas previously, the sommelier program always

25th January 2013

Summer Lodge Country House Hotel

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As the month of ‘detox’ comes to an end we’ve asked award winning sommelier Eric Zwiebel from Summer Lodge to share his thoughts on what this years wine trends will be:

Whilst not a wine, i think we will start to see Sake will be much more widely enjoyed. Whereas previously, the sommelier program always only dealt with wine, it now encompasses peripheral drinks too – tea, coffee, water, Cognac, liqueurs etc and the increase in the prominence of sake is as a result of an increased awareness amongst sommeliers and barmen. Another reason is because of the increase in the number of Japanese restaurants worldwide – Japanese food is regarded as being healthier than many other cuisines. Sake is drunk mainly with Japanese food.

Unfortunately due to the high demand from China and Russia i believe that we will see good wines will increase disproportionately in price.

At the end of last year we had the opening of Hedonism in London, a high end bespoke wine stores. I think we will see more of these styles of stores open throughout the rest of the UK.

Pinot Noir because it is a light bodied red will become more widely drunk with foods not traditionally associated with red wines eg fish

Wines from Portugal and Austria will become popular, personally i will be looking at Gruner Veltliner a variety of white wine grape from Austria and Tinta Roriz a black grape from Portugal.

More wines from Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia will come onto the market and will put it under pressure because they will sell them at lower prices.

China will of course be everywhere because it is so new, so rich and so able with its resources to become a very big part of the market. Currently, they are already the 7th biggest producer. If you are looking for one to try I would recommend the Cabernet blend from the Changyu Estate.

Wines to invest in now – whites – Alsace Rieslings and top class wines from Germany and Austria. Reds – from Piedmont and Burgundy (even though they are already expensive). Sweet wines from Tokaij because they are not too expensive at the moment and represent excellent value for money.

An increase in the consumption of wine by the glass is another trend becoming prevalent. This is because of cost, because people are keen to try different wines due to sommelier influence and also because there is a big increase in the number of shops like Hedonism where you can experience exceptionally rare wines without having to buy the entire bottle.

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